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Definition 2025

酷

酷

Translingual

Han character

酷 (radical 164 酉+7, 14 strokes, cangjie input 一田竹土口 (MWHGR), four-corner 14661)

  1. strong, stimulating
  2. very

References

  • KangXi: page 1283, character 14
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 39870
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1783, character 10
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3583, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+9177

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 酷

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (告) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
造 *skʰuːɡs, *sɡuːʔ
慥 *skʰuːɡs
艁 *skʰuːɡs, *sɡuːʔ
糙 *skʰuːɡs
告 *kuːɡs
誥 *kuːɡs
郜 *kuːɡs, *kuːɡ
祰 *kʰuːʔ, *kuːɡ
靠 *kʰuːɡs
浩 *ɡuːʔ, *kuːb
晧 *ɡuːʔ
皓 *ɡuːʔ
窖 *kruːɡs
簉 *skʰruɡs
梏 *kruːɡ, *kuːɡ
硞 *kʰruːɡ, *kʰuːɡ
牿 *kuːɡ
鵠 *kuːɡ, *ɡuːɡ
酷 *kʰuːɡ
焅 *kʰuːɡ
嚳 *kʰuːɡ
頶 *ɡuːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kʰuːɡ) : semantic 酉 ‎(“wine”) + phonetic 告 ‎(OC *kuːɡs).

Etymology

Original meaning was “cruel”. The sense “cool” is a phono-semantic matching of English cool.

Pronunciation

  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 酷
Mandarin Beijing /kʰu⁵¹/
Harbin /kʰu⁴⁴/
Tianjin /kʰu⁵³/
Jinan /kʰu²¹³/
Qingdao /kʰu⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /kʰu⁵³/
Xi'an /kʰu²¹/
Xining /kʰv̩⁵³/
Yinchuan /kʰu⁵³/
Lanzhou /kʰu¹³/
Ürümqi /kʰu²¹³/
Wuhan /kʰu²¹³/
Chengdu /kʰu³¹/
Guiyang /kʰu²¹/
Kunming /kʰu³¹/
Nanjing /kʰuʔ⁵/
Hefei /kʰuəʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /kʰuəʔ²/
Pingyao /kʰuʌʔ¹³/
Hohhot /kʰuəʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /kʰoʔ⁵/
Suzhou /kʰoʔ⁵/
Hangzhou /kʰoʔ⁵/
Wenzhou /kʰu²¹³/
Hui Shexian /kʰuʔ²¹/
Tunxi /kʰu⁵/
Xiang Changsha /kʰu²⁴/
Xiangtan /kʰu²⁴/
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian /kʰuk̚¹/
Taoyuan
Cantonese Guangzhou /hok̚²/
Nanning /kʰuk̚⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /huk̚²/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /kʰɔk/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /kouʔ²³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /kʰu²⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /kʰok̚²/
Haikou (Min Nan) /xau³⁵/
Rime
Character 酷
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 溪 (29)
Final (韻) 沃 (6)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 苦沃切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /kʰuok̚/
Pan
Wuyun		 /kʰuok̚/
Shao
Rongfen		 /kʰok̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /kʰawk̚/
Li
Rong		 /kʰok̚/
Wang
Li		 /kʰuok̚/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /kʰuok̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 ku
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 酷
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 kù
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ khowk ›
Old
Chinese		 /*kʰˤuk/
English cruel

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 酷
Reading # 1/1
No. 3824
Phonetic
component		 告
Rime
group		 覺
Rime
subdivision		 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 酷
Old
Chinese		 /*kʰuːɡ/

Definitions

酷

  1. cruel; brutal; savage
    殘酷 / 残酷  ―  cánkù  ―  cruel
  2. extremely; to an extreme degree
    酷愛 / 酷爱  ―  kùài  ―  to have a passion for; to ardently love
  3. (Mandarin, slang) cool; awesome

Usage notes

Whilst English "cool" may be used in a wide variety of contexts, 酷 (and, by extension, 酷斃／酷毙 (kùbì)) is usually only used to describe something fashionable or extraordinary.

See also

Compounds

  • 冷酷 (lěngkù)
  • 嚴酷／严酷 (yánkù)
  • 峻酷
  • 慘酷／惨酷
  • 殘酷／残酷 (cánkù)
  • 苟弟轉酷／苟弟转酷
  • 貪殘酷烈／贪残酷烈
  • 貪酷／贪酷
  • 酷似
  • 酷刑
  • 酷吏
  • 酷哥
  • 酷嗜
  • 酷好
  • 酷妹
  • 酷寒

Japanese

Kanji

酷

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

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Readings

Korean

Hanja

酷 • ‎(hok) (hangeul 혹, revised hok, McCune-Reischauer hok, Yale hok)

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Vietnamese

Han character

酷 (khốc)

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